Home Ministry probes Chandigarh IT park land deals

CHANDIGARH, INDIA: Controversial land deals worth billions of rupees at the Chandigarh Information Technology park have come under the scanner of the central ministry of home affairs.

The ministry has sent here a former IAS officer, Arun Ramanathan, to examine the land records and the deals.

Ramanathan will hold a three-day inquiry starting Wednesday and then submit his report to the ministry, said a senior official of the Chandigarh administration, requesting anonymity.

Farmers and farmhouse owners have alleged that the administration had forcibly bought their land at prices much below the actual market value and then sold those off to private companies and builders at rates several times higher or in some cases at throwaway prices.

Various farmers associations, who are protesting against the deals for the past many months, said they would meet Ramanathan to apprise him about the situation.

The ministry had earlier conducted a special audit of these land deals and found gross irregularities in the allotment of land.

(What is your opinion about IT parks being established at the cost of poor and needy? If you were a minister concerned, what measures would you have adopted to avoid this situation? Please give your comments in the box below.)